this morning, cpt chng asked us to do something. he gave us a question. what is something that you hope to achieve in your lifetime? only one answer came to my mind. call me a useless bum, but my answer was, i want to be able to lead a stress free, carefree life with a happy family and good friends. simple as that. what a hopeless guy with zero aspirations rite? think again. i can say i want to own a big house, big car, two jack russells, a hot babe for a wife, earn my one million, or ten million, whatever. to me, all these are way easier than what i want to achieve. so what if i earn big bucks and have all the material gains? i will still be subjected to the bump and grind of society, and i may not be doing something that i like. i may not have a happy family, and i may not have good friends whom i can trust and confide in.
i realised something, whatever you do in life, what matters is not the amount of returns it will bring you, but rather look for something of a greater value, the value of satisfaction and enjoyment. many people indulge themselves in superficial pleasures, like having a big car, big house, feasting in expensive restaurants everyday. does that really make them happy? is that what they really want? there are people who earn just enough to keep their head above water, yet they are happier than many of us, because everyday, they are doing things that they like.
why is it that so many people are indulging in artificial, superficial means to make themselves happy? like clubbing, smoking, drinking, taking drugs. think about it. isnt it very pathetic if we need all these external stimulants to make us happy? why do we work so hard, earn so much money and spend it on these useless stimulants that would only serve to harm our body if taken excessively?isnt it very contradictory? what do we actually want? and what are we actually looking for in life?
that is the reason why i am temporarily stopping clubbing. sure, the temptations are always there. a moment ago, phua just told me he was going zouk. i almost wanted to say, "mind if i join u guys?" and due to some reason unknown to me, dw actually jio-ed me to club on msn. it was so uncanny, the timing. both things happened at the same time. i stayed at home, and im quite happy that i decided to do so. =)
learn to be contented, learn to let go. learn to be happy. learn to treasure everything and especially everyone around you. do not lament what you do not have. but rather, treasure what you have.